


glowing golden

by dorenamryn



Series: obikin week 2017 [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Afterlife, Angst, Force Ghosts, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, my poor space sons
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-17
Updated: 2017-07-17
Packaged: 2018-12-03 05:48:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11525811
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dorenamryn/pseuds/dorenamryn
Summary: Anakin thinks that he doesn't deserve any of this. And yet, Obi-Wan still holds him as he cries.





	glowing golden

**Author's Note:**

> written for Obikin Week Day 1: Mistake/Regret.

When Anakin woke up, he found that he didn’t know where he was. No, wait, he did; this was the Room of a Thousand Fountains, but how he had gotten here he had no idea. The last thing he remembered was Luke, dragging him to the hangar, and then he had taken off his mask, and then—

Oh. He was dead.

He stood, and as did, he noticed something. He was whole again. His legs, his arms, even the one that Dooku had cut off a lifetime ago, were flesh; soft skin and blood and bone. He raised his hands to his face and found that he had hair, and that the skin of his cheeks was smooth.

He gazed towards the fountains, then, the Force shrouded about him like a cloak. He soon found that even though he was inside, there was a breeze, blowing his hair and gently hitting his skin. And then, suddenly, he was crying.

Why couldn’t he remember the last time he’d been touched by a breeze?

The fountains shone brightly as the light from above danced in the water. So bright, so light were the fountains that Anakin soon realized that he could see his reflection in the peaceful water. And then, as he wiped away the salty wetness from his face with the sleeve of his robes, he saw himself. In his own reflection, he saw the Light Side of the Force, and that, in turn, opened up a path in his mind that he’d thought had long since abandoned him.

He was Anakin Skywalker, as he had been during the war, save his right hand which had been restored. The scar was still there, though, a reminder, he assumed. His face was different, though, not gaunt or pale as he remembered it being. He wore his usual dark-coloured robes, the soft fabric reflecting off the light and making his skin glow. He’d never been able to wear the traditionally-light robes of the Jedi. Whenever he wore them, he could never shake the cold from his skin and prevent it from seeping into his bones.

Anakin closed his eyes for a moment. He had turned to the Dark Side, become a Sith, killed millions. Why was he here? Not that he wasn’t grateful, but he didn’t deserve it. He had done so many terrible, terrible things. It was not his place to be here, in such a place of light.

He turned from the image of himself and looked behind him; the water flowing from the fountains sparkled in the warm sunlight drifting down from above. There was a door at the far end of the room, framed by the light. The breeze was nudging him towards it, and so he followed the breeze and was soon standing before the cool stone. Without noise, it opened, and Anakin stepped forth into the following room. The Force was tranquil here, the air electrified with a kind of serenity that Anakin had never truly reached in life.

And then, his heart wrenched painfully as he laid his eyes upon the sole figure that stood in the centre of the room. 

Obi-Wan’s gentle smile was enough to break him.

And suddenly, he was falling, his knees hitting the unforgivingly hard floor as his hands began to shake.

“You’re not here,” he whispered through his turbulent emotions, his throat closing up as Obi-Wan approached. “You _can’t_ be here.”

His hands curled into fists when the figure came close enough to touch. He looked down, his tears threatening to swallow him whole. Obi-Wan stepped forward, then, wrapping his arms around Anakin as he slowly fell apart. Despite it all, despite everything that he had done and everything he’d been, there was a set of arms holding him as he sobbed into Obi-Wan’s beige-clad chest.

“It’s okay,” Obi-Wan whispered, warm and here and _alive_. “I’ve got you now, it’s okay.”

“I’m _sorry_ ,” Anakin said as his throat constricted, his hands tightly gripping Obi-Wan’s robes as if he was going to vanish at any moment. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m—“

“It’s okay,” Obi-Wan repeated, his arms tightening around Anakin’s shaking frame. “We’re okay.”

The room was tranquil again as Anakin’s emotions began to burn out, and still, the entire time Obi-Wan held him. His embrace was warm and gentle, his arms strong and solid, and his voice soft as he said:

“I forgave you long ago.”

And then Anakin was bawling, the simple truth and kindness of Obi-Wan’s words like a punch to his gut. He found that his hands were still shaking, fisted around the material of Obi-Wan’s robes as they were. And in that moment, he couldn't hate himself more. He'd ruined everything, destroyed worlds, and yet Obi-Wan was still here, as welcoming and kind as he'd always been.

Anakin opened his eyes and looked at Obi-Wan, _really_ looked at him. The lines of grief and weariness that had been etched in his face during the war were gone, and his hair was more vibrant than Anakin remembered. He soaked in the radiating light coming from Obi-Wan’s warm presence and made sure to commit his face to memory, to remember every little detail as best as he possibly could, for he still thought that this was but a trick of the Force. Obi-Wan would disappear at any moment, and Anakin would be bound to burn again. It was the order of things, penance for his sins.

For a moment, Obi-Wan’s eyes turned sad.

“I’m not going anywhere,” he said, his voice still kind and soft, the look in his eyes nearly enough to shatter Anakin's heart into millions of tiny pieces. “You have already been redeemed, Anakin. All that is left for you to do is forgive yourself.”

“But how, Obi-Wan?” Anakin replied, his chest growing tight as Obi-Wan’s name fell from his lips. “How can I forgive myself? How can I let go of all the terrible things I’ve done?”

“You must,” Obi-Wan responded instead of answering. “You _must_. You will. And when it’s all over, I’ll be here. You will never be alone again, if you so wish it.”

Anakin blinked, once, his eyes a brilliant blue as he looked directly at Obi-Wan.

“You really mean that?” Anakin whispered, his face so full of sorrow and guilt that Obi-Wan nearly cried with the weight of it.

“Yes, Anakin,” he replied after a brief pause, his gaze soft as he held Anakin in his arms. “Come with me, let go of your guilt. Only then will you be truly free within the Force.”

“Will you help me?” Anakin asked, his voice quiet and small, the tears upon his cheeks glistening in the soft light of the room. 

“Of course I will,” Obi-Wan stated simply, letting one of his hands carefully brush the wetness from Anakin’s eyes as he began to collapse again. 

And then, after a moment of hesitation, Obi-Wan leaned just a little further down and then there was a pair of lips upon his own, so impossibly soft and smooth that Obi-Wan just wanted to kiss them forever. Anakin kissed back eagerly, desperately, as if he was running out of air, out of time. There were more tears on his face now, but it was okay, for this was Anakin, here and breathing in his arms and so incredibly fragile. Although, that didn’t matter now. Nothing mattered now, except for the fact that Anakin’s lips were on his and the Force was in wild harmonious unity around them and the air was electric and Anakin was glowing golden. 

“I’ve got you,” Obi-Wan whispered as he pulled away, his arms tightening around Anakin as the other man buried his head in Obi-Wan’s shoulder. “I’ve got you.”

And then, the room eloped into silence and the healing process began. Somewhere in the Force, two souls finally found peace.

**Author's Note:**

> hope you enjoyed reading!! you can find me on tumblr [here](http://vortexoftime.tumblr.com/). comments are greatly appreciated, so send me your feedback :)


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